The Seychelles Column - By Christopher Gill

Seychelles Entering The Age of Transparency and Accountability 

It has been an honor and privilege to write over the last Six (6) years on issues that Seychelles face. Each week, I pen an article on current events, that address the political and social life of the Nation.

The effort is a living effort, it is in real time, focusing on real issues, and I place my pen on the line each week because I do have to defend my points against anyone in Seychelles society and anyone in the World through the blog comments.

No other public figure faces blog comments in Seychelles. Both SNP and PL leadership use fake profiles to place comments and attempt to poke holes in ideas I present and others on the STAR team.

Age of Transparency

The exercise has alerted me that we are entering an age of transparency, wherein the 20^th century way of doing things have become obsolete. No longer can a Minister steal money, sell off land cheap and expect that he will be able to get away with the abuse of public confidence. They will get caught, they will be named, they will be shamed, and their family members will succumb to the pressures of being related to a public thief.

Recently, one thieving ministers wife, faced him, and told him, she cannot take it any longer, and wants a divorce. The public resentment, built up, having to live a life of duplicity, had taken its toll on a marriage that stooped to living off public largess.

Beyond that, we must document the incidences of theft and abuse of office. Information flows to me from all walks of life. But those that give the information want one thing: a better and accountable Seychelles. I am certain they will get it. I salute them for their effort, and commitment.

Commonwealth Lawyers Conference

This week at the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in Hyberadad India, Commonwealth lawyers and judges came together and announced that corruption must be stamped out in the Commonwealth, and abuse of funds, thieving of state assets, is tantamount to a violation of Human Rights, because these public thieves, deny society  a higher quality of life they would have if the thieving and abuse of funds had not taken place.

The Commonwealth conference resolved that not only should culprits be vigorously prosecuted and do jail time, but they must return stolen money, and be cited for Human Rights violations.

Mr. Ronnie Govinden, Attorney General in Seychelles, attended this conference. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with as a plan of action to deal with human rights violations centered around corruption of our political leadership, which he works for.

I learned a long time ago, you are better off carving your own niche in life, then carrying someone’s dirty laundry and acting like it smells good. I hope Mr. Govinden will see this thread of solid advise. The community is watching him with an eagles eye.

Francis Chang Sam, a former Attorney General, cum legal profiteer knows the impact of public scrutiny concerning his professional practice. Mr. Chang-Sam has been a director of the Central Bank during the days Seychelles defaulted on the Lehman Brother Bonds, and he was paid to handle the Bond transactions on part of the Government of Seychelles, independently.

In any other country he would have been disbarred by now.

Seychelles Before UN Tribunal For No Human Rights Report

The Seychelles must face a UN Tribunal for not filing a national Human Rights Report for over 34 years next month. 

It is a damning testimony to the lack of seriousness the Government and political parties and NGO’s have placed on human rights in our country.

Without holding government in check on the abuse of civil liberties, we cannot evolve into a better country, but we will roll back Seychelles, to the tyranny that it came from on June 5^th , 1977. Everyone is culpable for failing to effectively handle Human Rights as an issue. This includes the Butcher himself, to the man frolicking with the 1960’s message of world peace -world wide, and everyone in between the two of them.

We just have not done enough as a country or as a people to take tyranny to task.

So Far We Are Rolling Back

From what I have seen on the front lines facing the Michel Administration, we are rolling backwards and heading for a rear end collision with tyranny, because Michel himself, has not adapted to the age of transparency.

He is stuck in the past, with the thinking that an AK-47 is the best solution to a prolific pen, or bull horn in the streets. Granted Michel has adapted his techniques with recent purchase of small nozzle automatic assault guns for his secret police we call NDEA and Irish mercenaries which he has imported, but the tactics of intimidation are still there, save the fancy Irish sounding letters Naill Scully writes to cover up the NDEA abuses upon our Constitution.

Every Seychellois Is a Reporter

Today, unlike 1977, every Seychellois can be a reporter with cameras and recorders on their popular mobile phones. With a little help, that information can be placed on the internet, and scams - schemes of a  dictator can be exposed for the world to see in a minute.

Today, Facebook pages like Mouvman Seselwa Rasin, Sesel Pou Seselwa, STAR blog, are breaking news issues, before newspapers hit the streets. Photographs, recordings of incidents are making it to the internet tripping up the communists in their arrogant ways of doing things. International journalist regularly contact us for the back story on articles we write.

For example, the digital recording of Gappy refusing a 4^th submission of MSR has gone around the world. Reporters ask me for it, I point them to it on Lavwa –Sesel. They listen in and judge for themselves if the Commissioner of Elections is impartial. That has an impact on the regimes image around the world. Soon enough, it will make its way back home and back to Mont Fleuri when Gappy gets the boot, which he will.

For example, NDEA is told to watch our political movement and when they trek up to Docklands, or Glenny Savy peeks into our windows, we see them, just when they thought they were not seen.

Through the internet, we see the land sales of Zil Pasyon -Felicite Island, a property that was leased under value to Gregoire Payet for SR. 10,000.00 per annum, then transferred to Francis Savy’s company. The buyers are alerted to our coverage of the sales and are put on notice of the under handed deals that under lie the island transaction itself.

Eden Island, the buyers to that scheme, know that they are threading on a delicate situation. They can access our articles on Eden Island and everything Craig Heegar tries to hide from them to make the sale, we expose. When they buy, they buy on a calculated risk, knowing the facts.

Caveat Emptor (Let the Buyer BEWARE) reigns.

Balancing of the Dictator

The internet has balanced the playing field against tyranny more then ever.

Last year, State House felt it important to create a Facebook page for Michel. Staffers service it and place comments for him. The comments are confined to pep talk for JJ Spirit mostly, which is made up of younger people looking for job placement or promotion.

That effort in itself has exposed a tremendous weakness of the Administration, it has succumb to the internet, and community trends. It has tried to adapt, but has yet to understand, the impact of transparency in its regime life. You cannot effectively host on community pages if you have something to hide. Hence, why so many fake profiles come from SPPF.

Era of Dictatorships Ending

The understatement that will define this century will be: “the Century that ended dictatorships ”.

Puff, they will all go, one by one, thanks to Google, Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones, satellite dishes. The individual will be empowered like in no other time of human history.

This collection of know how, is rooted in America’s quest for technological solutions to problems, that will be the greatest gift to mankind, and our plight for freedom in the face of autocratic tyrants like Michel, Rene, and their friends. The ball is in play.

All tyrants that rule by fear and intimidation and use violence as a tool, their days are numbered. These sick people cannot torture, mayhem, scare, kill enough people to keep the pages of history from turning on them.

As our world becomes more transparent, dictators and their agents, will become more accountable, it is they who will run scared this time.

In Seychelles we only need an opposition that can see that, and not live in the past with their past fears, to effect change in Seychelles.

SESEL POU SESELWA!

May God Bless All Freedom Loving Seychellois!